


Outlawed.

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Addiction, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Black Romance, Implied Torture, Insanity, Multi, Psychological Trauma, Red Romance, References to Suicide, References to sexual activity, Science Fiction, Smoking, Substance Abuse, War Crimes, Western
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-08
Updated: 2012-08-28
Packaged: 2017-11-11 16:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/480768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Administrative Sector 612 of Alternia, a young woman is thrown into the life of an outlaw. Now with no allies, no home and no chance of survival, she must avoid the Alternian Homeworld Defence Force, Legislacerators, the Threshecutioner Corps. as well as mercenaries and bounty hunters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Outlawed

_It was his fault. It wasn't yours. He broke into your hive. That's why General Eridan Ampora is currently dead on the floor of your respiteblock and his friend just ran out. That's why you're covered in his blood. That's why you're completely and utterly doomed. He had friends in high places and they're not going to be happy with you. Legislacerators. Bounty hunters. The Alternian Imperial Army. They're all going to be out for your jadegreen blood, Maryam._  
  
Kanaya looked around in a panic. Here was the body of one of the most important people in Alternian politics. He's now in two pieces on the floor and his bodyguard is going to report it before she could stop him, or even silence him. Kanaya continued to panic. She thought about why Ampora was even here, then decided that it was too sinister to think about at this time. Eventually she calmed herself down then picked up her chainsaw, some clothes and some food and water.  
  
Kanaya looked out the window towards the town nearby. She preferred it when she was the only living person for miles. Now there were hundreds nearby, and they weren't a law-abiding type, and Alternia doesn't have many laws.  
  
Kanaya walked out her front door and locked it. She looked at the town again. She sighed, and walked away from her home. It would take a miracle for her to survive even one week now.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
It was dawn now, and only a few drunks were stumbling to their hives in the streets. Kanaya easily avoided the drunken trolls who couldn't even speak, never mind recognise her. That's when she saw the poster on the wall. It was written in a printed format and had a sketch of her full body and her face in questionable detail.  
  
 _WANTED FOR POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED ASSASSINATION._  
  
 _Yesterday, an unknown assassin murdered Eridan Ampora, general of the 11th Alternian Army. She was politcally motivated to do so. She is to be considered armed, dangerous and mentally unstable._  
  
 _This criminal has fairly large horns, one of which has a hook, jadegreen eyes and blood and is physically average. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and a red skirt and was last seen equipped with a chainsaw._

_Reward: 1000 caegars for termination. 1500 caegars for arrest._  
  
Kanaya punched the wall. She was already a wanted woman and now every lowblood with a weapon who saw a poster is going to hunt her down just for 1000 caegars. Kanaya punched the wall again and then ripped the poster from the wall, then looked at the sun's position in the sky. It was still early in the day, and so no troll was going to dare to step outside. Kanaya looked around and then at her bruised and cut hand.  
  
"Well, that was smart, me." she said to herself, shaking her hand and licking the blood away. She turned around and saw a drunken troll holding a gun to her head. She jumped back and put her hands up, still holding the chainsaw in her right hand.  
  
"Well, I think I got myself 1000 caegars." slurred the troll, barely keeping the pistol steady.  
"Why don't you make it 1500? Better still, why don't you go home?" Kanaya said threateningly.  
"I don't know, miss, that's a lot of money on your little head..."  
"Clear off." Kanaya growled. She readied her chainsaw and revved it.  
  
The troll stumbled and took his eyes off Kanaya. She kicked him in the abdomen and he flew to the ground, dropping his gun. While he struggled to find it, Kanaya loomed over him, chainsaw in hand. She kept her eyes trained on him while she leaned down and picked up the pistol with her left hand. It was a civilian model of a military officer's sidearm, and had six bullets in the cylinder.  
  
"Bullets." Kanaya demanded. The drunk quickly reached into his pocket and placed a box of bullets and 2 caegars on the ground at Kanaya's feet. She looked at the box, and slowly took her foot off the drunken troll, who was now starting to cry on the floor. "Now get out of here."  
  
The troll obeyed, running for about 10 feet lopsidedly before falling over again. He cracked his head on the floor and started to bleed, and he didn't get up. Kanaya gasped and ran over to him. She put her arms under his arms and started to drag him to a shaded alleyway. She placed him between two dumpsters and placed a unfolded box over his bare skin. She looked at her sleeve, now slightly damp from the blood.

 

She decided that now was the worst time to care about clothing. She needed to get to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

Kanaya could not fall asleep. No matter how hard she tried, she would only wake up a few minutes later. With a heavy sigh, she lifted herself up from the cardboard box she was lying on. She checked the gun again. She counted six bullets in the gun, and there were seventy rounds in the box that drunk gave her. She looked over to the town, and then realised something was happening, then there was a massive explosion. Kanaya put the pistol between her leg and her belt and ran to the approximate site of the explosion; she simply had to see what was happening.  
  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"You want some of this, you fucking nooksniffers?!" shouted the rebel as he threw another IED towards the military outpost. Trolls ran away in terror as he screamed Alternia's foulest obscenities at the soldiers within. Some ran out on fire, others ran out coughing from the smoke.  
  
The lone outlaw inserted three shells into his triple-barrelled sawn-off shotgun and wasted no time in eliminating the retreating soldiers. Alarms started ringing from the building as flames erupted from the windows.  
  
Kanaya flattened herself against a wall and drew her pistol. She peeked at the lone rebel. He was short and his horns were small. His face was obscured by a mask stained with blue and purple blood and his language shocked Kanaya more than the violence. A large truck drove around the far corner, and several heavily armed soldiers jumped out.  
  
"Freeze! Get down on the ground!" the leader shouted, aiming a large machine gun at the rebel.  
"Shit!" the stranger shouted. He fired the shotgun at the police troops and ran over to Kanaya's position. He saw her flattened against the wall. "Fire at them!"  
Kanaya looked at her gun. "But..."  
"Fucking hell!" the rebel grabbed Kanaya's hand, pushed her out of cover and made her pull the trigger three times. A bullet struck a police officer in the leg. Another officer ran and dragged him into cover while the others started to advance.   
  
"We gotta get the fuck outta here. Everyone's thinking you're with me now." he said, pointing to the crowd that was forming in the other direction. The rebel grabbed Kanaya's other hand hand and started running down the road.  
"Why the hell did you make me do that!?" Kanaya shouted. "Where are we going?"  
"We're going to fucking die if we don't get outta here!"  
  
The rebel kicked open the door to an abandoned hive. It was in different states of decay and disrepair. On the opposite wall to the door there was a board with pictures of various military acts. Next to each one there was a insult or comment. Kanaya looked over the board. One picture depicted the execution of the Signless, with the comment: "He wasn't no hero, but at least he had balls." Another depicted the Battleship Condescension on a propaganda poster, with various insults scrawled around the ship. One stood out. It was a recent picture of Her Imperious Condescension. In clear red writing, it simply said "MONSTER."  
  
"This is rather disturbing." said Kanaya.  
"Truth's always disturbing, lady." the rebel looked in a chest and produced a large bottle of alcohol. "That fucking bitch...I just really hate her."  
"In that way?" asked Kanaya. The rebel gave her a cold stare.  
"I've never been so fucking insulted in my life. I'd sooner fuck myself with an acid-filled pail then eat my own shit."  
"Okay, that's just sick." Kanaya said. She did not like the stranger's tone of voice, his langauge or the fact he just mentioned pails in front of a total stranger. "Anyway...What's your name?"  
"Ever heard of that outlaw who once bombed a shuttle full of soldiers?"  
"Yes..." Kanaya said. She was starting to get worried about this man.  
"Ever heard of the case where a legislacerator was found executed in the same way as the Sufferer?"  
"Yes..." Kanaya shifted uncomfortably. She kept her hand close to her gun.  
"What about the time when a threshecutioner squad was found stabbed with their own sickles?"  
"Hold on, was this you?"  
"Well, fucking duh, sweetheart." the rebel drank some of the bottle's contents. "You should know my name, I'm on every second poster: Karkat Vantas. Wanted for assassination, theft of Empire property, destruction of Empire property, high treason and one poster accused me of grub theft. Which is some weird shit that I didn't do."  
"Oh my." Kanaya put her hand to her mouth at the list of crimes. "Umm...I'm Kanaya Maryam...I'm wanted for the assassination of General Eridan Ampora."  
"Holy shit, really?" Karkat looked at Kanaya. "How'd you get to him?"  
"He tried to get to me. So I cut him in half."  
"Self-defense?"  
"Yes."  
  
Karkat drank from the bottle. He went into another room and brought out two chairs. He set one down and then the other. Kanaya sat down with him.  
  
"Listen, sweetheart. You know that rumor that the word defense is illegal in a courtblock? That's completely true. You get caught, and you're fucked sideways and upside down. Maybe even literally, if you get a scumbag of a legislacerator after you." Karkat finished the bottle and placed it on the floor. "Listen, with the way that he got decorated as a hero last sweep for what was basically the genocide of two different races, I'm surprised they didn't just drop a fucking nuke on this town and hoped they hit you."  
"I'm kinda scared, to be honest." Kanaya said.  
"Completely natural. I was a terrified fucker when I first got declared an enemy of the Empire. After that whole "Killing the elite soldiers with their own weapons" thing?"  
"...Why do you do this?"  
"...Because the Empress is a fucking bitch and it's about time we stood up to her."  
"But why?"  
"Listen. In the Gog knows how long time she's ruled this planet, we got over fifty races on our conscience, a systematic murder system where if you can't fuck someone you're killed, a inherently stupid system of valuing their blood over what they can actually do. What's your blood color?"  
"Jadegreen." Kanaya said.  
"Notice all the fucks I don't give." Karkat said, pointing at his face. "I mean, you killed Ampora. I respect you for that."  
"What's yours?"  
Karkat paused for a second. "I'm a rustblood. Lowest of the low. Fair game to get constantly fucked over. I'll tell you what, I won't let them screw me over. I'm not lettting them screw anyone over. Maryam, promise me something."  
"What is it?"  
"You see a guy in trouble, you go help him or her. No matter what happens, it's better to die helping someone rather than die gently pissing yourself in a corner while a legislacerator is trying to smell you out. You ever heard of Legislacerator Pyrope?"  
"No, never heard of her."  
"You don't want to. Bitch's been chasing me for about five sweeps. She should've been culled a long time ago under the very law she claims to serve all her life. I bet she considers a rulebook to be her matesprit. Someone needs to tell her that a book doesn't cut it when there's a drone being really creepy while it watches you trying to get in the mood." Karkat reached into his pocket and produced a lighter and a cigarette. He lit the cigarette and placed it between his lips. "I mean, you can't even ask for fucking privacy."  
"I'm always glad most people in this town considered me to be a creepy witch that lives on her own so she can cast curses on everyone." Kanaya said. "Means that when a drone did come around, he just found a empty hive. I usually just ran away for about twelve hours."  
"You lucky bitch." Karkat said. He blew out some of the smoke. Kanaya waved it away from her face. "Listen, if Pyrope ever finds you, just start smoking and don't stop until she walks into a wall and kills herself. She can't smell past smoke." Karkat gave Kanaya a pack of 20 cigarettes. "The blind bitch can still taste you though, so don't let her get too close or she'll lick you. She's really fucked up." Karkat threw the cigarette to the floor and stamped on it. "Anyway, you gonna return to your own hive?"  
"I can't. Could be police there now."  
"Okay, you can stay here. I have a feeling you won't murder me in my sleep. If you are gonna kill me, have the decency to wake me first."  
"Okay, Karkat. I might get to sleep too. I have tried, but your attack actually woke me up."  
"Hmm. Right, good day, Maryam."  
"Good day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we go.
> 
> Not much really to say here except this chapter required a complete rewrite because the first draft was, quite frankly, shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Karkat woke up and checked his pockets. Everything was still there, just in case Kanaya stole everything. Shotgun rounds, pistol rounds, 22 caegars, a pack of cheap cigarettes, a silver lighter and a small newspaper cutout of a famous model. He lit a cigarette and coughed. He sat on the makeshift bed for a while. He felt his face and decided he needed to shave sometime. He opened a nearby drawer and produced a bottle of Alternian whiskey. He looked around for a bottle opener and when he couldn't find one, he just used a nearby sickle with various shades of blood dried on the long blade. As Karkat looked at the sickle, his grip grew tighter and angrier.  
  
"Gogdamned fucking _bastards_..." he said to himself. He exhaled some smoke, then drank more whiskey.  
"Karkat?" said Kanaya, in the doorway to Karkat's respiteblock. "Are you talking to yourself?"  
"No, I'm talking to Jegus though a woofbeast." Karkat said, deadpan.  
"Very funny. Also don't you realise that smoking and drink aren't really that healthy?"   
Karkat threw the cigarette down and stomped on it. He held the bottle in his hand, taking swigs at every possible moment.  "What are you, my fucking mother?"  
"Did you have a mother?"  
"No, a crab lusus took me."  
"I did." said Kanaya. "I was taken from the caverns and brought to her hive. I didn't think anything of it and when I found out that people were raised by lusii I was actually shocked."  
"So you got taken?"  
"Yes."  
"...Sometimes I wish I was taken. Maybe then I wouldn't currently be sitting in a rotting hive, with a girl I barely know,  looking out for the army."  
"My mother was just about the kindest person you could meet, my other mother though...Let's just say she had anger issues. Well, she wasn't my actual mother, but I spent half my time with her and her daughter, so I saw her as my mother. She was a pirate captain."  
"Explains everything." Karkat said. "So what? You were raised on a ship?"  
"For about...seven sweeps. One night Pirate Mom was killed in a skirmish with the army and then my mother and I moved out to the desert over there. She never did like water."  
"Hell of a scene change." said Karkat.  
"I did actually reunite with her daughter a few sweeps after my mother died. We actually went red for a while, but one night she disappeared, leaving a note saying she couldn't live in the desert. I tried to contact her every way I could, but she never replied."  
"What was her name?"  
"Vriska."  
"Wait wait wait." Karkat said. "Her name was Vriska?"  
"Yes."  
"Kanaya, I've only ever heard of one Vriska and she's the daughter of fucking Mindfang."  
"Yes, that's Pirate Mom."  
"Oh my fucking hell."  
"She was really nice when she wasn't drunk."  
"Hold up, your 'mother' was Mindfang?"  
"Yes, I just said..."  
"And you proceeded to become her daughter's matesprit?"  
"Yes."  
"Kanaya Maryam, you're insane." said Karkat, staring at Kanaya disbelievingly.  
"Again, they were both really nice when they were sober."  
"Not to everyone else they weren't!"  
"Well, they did often fire on us first."  
"Well duh. They saw Captain Mindfang. That's why they fired!"  
"Her name wasn't Mindfang, it was Aranea Serket."  
"Well, to the rest of trollkind, she was Mindfang!"  
"Can we stop talking about this now..?" Kanaya looked down.  
"Shit. Sorry." Karkat said.  
"It's all right, it's just that I'm hungry." Kanaya looked around. "I might've left my food where I was sleeping."  
"Thank Gog I found you, then. Can I be honest?"  
"Yes, Karkat."  
"You'd be absolutely fucking hopeless at living in the wilderness."  
"Hey, I used to go out during the day because I wanted to!"  
"...Kanaya you're really not helping your case of: "I'm not crazy" with "I like going into the blistering sun and bioweapon zombie hordes." I mean, fuck."  
"Well, doesn't it show I can handle myself?"  
"I guess so. So you fought zombies for fun? Damn."  
"Not really for fun, but if they got in the way of my landscape gardening then I killed them. In a way, it's a service."  
"Landscape gardening? The fuck is that?" Karkat said, reaching for another bottle of whiskey. He never really felt good about anything unless he was at least tipsy.  
"I just liked making all the plants around here really pretty."  
"Oh, that was you? I wondered for sweeps who was shaping the bushes into lusii. They're really good."  
"Thank you, it's really just something I do when I'm bored."  
"Also what's with your dress? I've never seen anything with, well, color in it."  
"I designed this myself, same reason as I cut plants. To make myself look nice."  
"Can I just say it fucking works? Damn..." Karkat said, looking at Kanaya. He drank some whiskey.  
"I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."  
"What? An attractive girl is standing in my doorway, asking how I'm doing in the evening."  
"Well, can I just say something right now?"  
"Yeah?" Karkat drank some more whiskey.  
"Not to be rude, but I'll never be red for you. It's not a case of "I don't like you." it's a case of: "I just can't get red feelings for you or any other male." Do you know what I mean?"  
"Oh, right. I getcha." Karkat said. "I heard that some trolls only can get red feelings for one gender. I bet the Empire's in the final stages of making that a crime even though there ain't nothing wrong with it."  
"Also, Karkat?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks for calling me attractive. Even if was a misguided comment."  
"Misguided my ass. That's the truth." Karkat finished the second bottle of whiskey.  
"Thank you, Karkat." Kanaya said, with a smile on her face. She left Karkat's doorway and went to another room. Karkat lay back down on his bed.  
  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Okay, so you see this place here?" said Karkat, pointing at a map.  
"Yes..." said Kanaya.  
"It's a Military bank. Soldiers use them instead of the regular banks because they're entitled sons of bitches."  
"So what are you planning?"  
"Okay, so when every guy's out of the building, it's not exactly as armored as it should be. Around the place I met you, there's a few APC's I didn't torch. Know what I'm saying?"  
"I think you're asking me to hijack a military vehicle, drive into a bank and then?"  
"We take the money, and we take _some_ for ourselves."  
"But what about the rest? You said we take some?"  
"I was getting to that. See, the Empire doesn't care for the little guy on the street at day, prone to getting his ass eaten by a zombie. So we then go to this local place here. I know the guy who runs it, he don't ask too many questions as long as he has things to give away."  
"That's rather...charitable."  
"You think? The guy's the one highblood I respect. He went crazy after a sopor high, gave away everything he owned and he's still insane enough to keep doing it. Let me warn you though, he was a subjugglator and he still holds some beliefs, so don't talk shit about clowns around him or he'll off the pair of us."  
"Okay, get money, give to Crazy Man. Seems good enough..."  
  
Karkat loaded his triple-barrelled shotgun. Kanaya checked the cylinder on her pistol. She had expected to have at least shot people by now, well, by her own free will. She hoped that it would stay that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this happened.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya and Karkat rob a bank.

Karkat adjusted the wires at the back of the APC, while Kanaya sat in the driver's seat. Eventually, after many swears from the back, the great engine activated with a deafening roar, and Karkat ran to the driver's cab and got in, smoking a cigarette.  
"Okay, the bank is down this road, then a left turn, then all the way down until the second-to-last junction, then turn right and floor the pedal."  
"Right. Here goes nothing..." Kanaya grabbed the steering wheel and depressed the accelerator. The APC rolled forward down the street next to the burnt out outpost. Some soldiers still lay dead in the road. Karkat gave no second thought to the events of that night.  
"Karkat?"  
"Hmm?" Karkat checked his shotgun. "What do you want?"  
"When did you decide to just go outlaw?"  
"I didn't." Karkat looked out the small window. "Circumstances."  
"Want to talk-"  
"No." Karkat interrupted angrily. He threw the cigarette out the window and drank some whiskey from his hip flask.  
"Okay." Kanaya said. She turned left.  
  
The bank was, like most buildings in the town, made of wood. It was only one floor tall and it was long. Two alleyways flanked the building, one containing some trucks, the other a small lane. Kanaya braced herself for the splintering impact.  
  
The APC smashed through the front of the bank. A few soldiers flew to the ground.  
"Gogdammit! There wasn't supposed to be anyone here! Kanaya! Take 'em out!"  
  
Kanaya produced her revolver and trained it on the cowering soldiers, disobeying Karkat's order. Karkat seized the sickle of a threshecutioner and stabbed her through the throat, screaming at the other hostages to stay down. A river of dark yellow blood flowed from the dead soldier. Karkat grabbed the tags off her neck and put them in his pocket. He held his shotgun to a terrified banker's face.  
"Open the fucking safe! Do it or I paint the wall with your fucking face!"  
  
The banker's hand slipped under the desk. He pressed the alarm button then produced a key card. He opened the door to behind the desk and let Karkat in. Karkat trained the gun on the banker while he used the key card on the safe's lock. Kanaya kept her revolver trained on the soldiers.  
"I hope none of you are planning on any heroics." she threatened. "Or it will not end well for you."  
  
The safe door opened and Karkat looked inside. He gave the banker a sack cloth bag and pointed. The banker ran in and stuffed the bag with bills and coins. Karkat nodded at the banker.  
  
"Maryam! Let's go!" Karkat shouted to Kanaya.  
"Wait. Don't use my name!"  
"Wait. Shit!" Karkat said, with a tone of realisation. He noticed from the window a large black armored personnel carrier, sirens blaring. "Oh shit! It's the police!"  
  
The truck braked, releasing six soldiers. They were wearing full body armor, each stamped with a letter and number. The white helmets each had "MP" printed on them. They wielded scoped assault rifles with extended magazines and shotguns with drum magazines. One, with A1 on his armor, held a loudspeaker.  
  
"Attention outlaws! This is the AS-612 Military Police! Drop your weapons, and come out with your hands up and you will be allowed to live! If you do not surrender in ten seconds, we will force entry and give no quarter!"  
"Fuck you!" Karkat shouted. He went to a window and fired a shell, striking a soldier in the face. Green blood leaked from the mask, and the soldier fell over dead. The others raised their weapons to their shoulders and started firing. Bullets riddled the building's front. Karkat flew to the ground. The police advanced on the bank.  
  
"Shit! Kanaya! Fire back!" Karkat ordered. Kanaya lifted her pistol and blindfired a few bullets in the general direction of the police. None of them slowed their approach.  
  
Karkat grabbed a soldier and held the sawn off shotgun to his head. "No one fucking move a muscle or this motherfucker dies!"  
"Shit, man, be cool. Be cool, man..." the soldier pleaded.  
  
The police slowed down. Karkat looked around. "There! The window!" he shouted at Kanaya. Karkat threw the soldier through the glass. "Quick!"  
  
Kanaya and Karkat leapt from the window into an alleyway. The police saw the pair and fired. Karkat fired another shell back, hitting no one.  
  
"Well, this is fucking going to plan!" Karkat shouted.  
"What now?"  
"Keep running!"  
  
A bullet skimmed past Kanaya's cheek. She wiped the blood from her face and wiped it on her shirt. She turned around and fired at the armored soldier behind her, hitting him in the eye. The soldier fell over, screaming for a medic. The alleyway came to a turn and a way into another street.  
  
"Okay, there's that crazy guy's place! Get in there!" Karkat yelled to Kanaya. They kept running until they reached a small hive. Karkat opened the door, let Kanaya in and slammed it.  
  
"Hey, Karbro! Who's the lady?" said the tall man walking down the hallway. He was wearing a black T-shirt, trousers and his face was painted in a vaguely skull-like pattern. He had three deep scars across his face, and his horns were large. His eyes darted around the room constantly. Something about him made Kanaya nervous, like he could just produce a bludgeon and beat her to death, then go on as if nothing had happened. His hive was appallingly messy, with empty jars, dirty beddings and general hive trash littering the floor.  
"My name's Kanaya."  
"Hey! Name's Gamzee! How's your bad motherfucking self?"  
"I'm...fine." Kanaya said, panting for breath.  
"Okay! You got the goods?" Gamzee said, turning to Karkat, who was doubled over, gasping and coughing.  
"Give me a minute." Karkat kept coughing. He exclaimed in pain and held his chest. "Fucking lungs..."  
"You okay?" asked Kanaya. She could hear more sirens outside.  
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Karkat coughed up some blood. He hid it from Gamzee and Kanaya and wiped it on his trousers. "Fuck...Right, yeah I got the money."  
Gamzee took the money from Karkat and tried to estimate the amount. "There must be about 10,000 caegars in here! I knew you'd pull through, Karbro!"  
"We almost got shot, but yeah, it was worth it."  
"Shit, man. Take a thousand each." Gamzee pushed a roll of bills into Kanaya and Karkat's hands. Karkat put his money into his pocket. Kanaya quickly counted out 500 caegars in five bills then gave the other 500 back. Gamzee took the money and put it back into the sack.  
"Ohohoh! I think we got ourselves a most righteous sister here, Karbro!"  
"Kanaya, are you sure? There's a fucking thousand there." Karkat whispered. He reached for his cigarettes, but then remembered that Gamzee's religion forbids smoking, and that Gamzee would surely take offense.  
"I don't need it." Kanaya said.  
"You're a motherfucking saint, sister!" Gamzee's smile reached from ear to ear. "Just think how many miracles can be performed! Motherfuck!"  
"So we done here, Makara?"  
"Yeah, hold on." Gamzee ran into his hive, and ran back with two jars of slime. "Just a little present..."  
"Uh...Thank you, Gamzee. That's very nice of you." said Kanaya, looking at the strange substance.  
"Yeah, thanks man!" Karkat said.  
  
They walked out of Gamzee's hive. Karkat looked around. "Come on, we have to get back to our hive."   
"What is this stuff?" Kanaya asked. She opened the lid and put some on her finger. She spread it around with her thumb. It was thick, gooey, waxy and unpleasant. She sniffed it once before recoiling with mild disgust and wiping it on her trouser leg.  
"It's sopor slime. Don't eat it, it's what made that guy batshit."  
"Oh." Kanaya closed the jar. "What should I do with it?"  
"Keep it on you. A large enough dose knocks people out for nights. When they wake up, they're insane. Kinda like Moirail Loss Syndrome."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah..." Karkat said. They continued to walk down the street. Kanaya looked at the jar again, then threw it into the next hive's trash can. After a few more paces, Karkat did the same.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya misses an old matesprit and Karkat tells a story about himself.

_Heeeeeeeey Fussyfangs <3  
  
I didn't want to do this. I wanted to stay with you. 8ut I simply can't stand the desert and I know you never liked the sea. We can't live in the forest simply 8ecause of the danger and I know how you feel about crowds so the cities were out as well...  
  
If there was an alternative, I never found it, and I can understand if you h8 me forever 8ecause of this. I have returned to the ocean and I'm living up to my mother's name. Someone needs to keep that legend alive, right????????  
  
Hopefully, one night we can meet again, and if you don't h8 me forever, I'm going to make sure you can't walk by the end of the day ;;;;D  
  
Please don't h8 me.  
  
I <3 you.  
  
-Vriska._  
 _  
PS: I left a picture of me in your drawer. I think you'll like it._  
  
Kanaya looked at the note. She lost the picture a long time ago. Karkat peeked over his shoulder at Kanaya.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked.  
"Just looking at Vriska's note..." Kanaya sighed.   
"Oh right. Can I see?"  
"...Yeah, you may as well." Kanaya said. She passed the note to Karkat.  
Karkat read over the note. Eventually he lowered it. "I'm going to make sure you can't walk? Damn, Maryam, she sounds like hell of a girl."  
"She was always like that." Kanaya said quietly. "She sounded a lot like you, in a way. Except she was a bit more fond of the massive, explosive ordinance"  
"Hey, I can get all the missiles I want!"  
"I bet you can."  
"What's that supposed to mean, Maryam?"  
"Nothing." Kanaya sighed and could even feel herself shedding a clear jade tear, she tried to keep it hidden, but it was a futile gesture, with Karkat next to her.  
  
  
"...You still love her. I can tell. You're still completely red for her."  
"...No, she left me on my own. In this Gogforsaken desert."  
"Then why carry this note with you all the time?" Karkat asked, lighting a cigarette.  
"It's none of your business."  
"I'm trying to help you."  
"None of your business!" Kanaya raised her voice. "Just leave it there."  
Karkat handed the note back. "I know what you're going through. I got a funny story about it."  
"Whatever, more tales from your educated mind might cheer me up."  
"Shut the fuck up Maryam. Okay. You know the heiress to the throne? Feferi Peixes?"  
"Yeah?" Kanaya said, trailing off. "You were red for her? But I thought you hated the Empire."  
"Well, she's different. For a start, she actually has some fucking compassion. Sure she can be a bitch if she wants, but she's really nice, you know, for a tyrianblood."  
"Well, I noticed she was different. Maybe that's why no one ever hears from her." Kanaya said.  
"I remember, way back, before I was even outlawed. Hell, would you believe it this is before I even saw another person naked, magazines excluded.When I was walking the road away from the City to AS-612, I saw a woman in trouble, surrounded by dead soldiers and a load of bandits. Now I wasn't stupid, so I was prepared for those types. I took out my pistol and I killed the five of them. I walked over to see if she was fine, and it was Feferi fucking Peixes! So I was like: "Jegus, it's you!" and she said she gets that a lot. I asked her what happened and she said a bunch of outlaws attacked her while she was going to the city for a speech or something."

 

Karkat opened a bottle of whiskey and put out the cigarette. "So I said if there was anything else I could do and she said no, but she'd like to thank me. Now back then, I had more...energy, so to speak, so I was pretty damn excited about this reward. Also, past me is a fucking idiot, so keep that in mind."  
"You were expecting the Heiress of Alternia to have sex with you?" Kanaya looked at Karkat, who was looking up, almost dreamily.  Kanaya couldn't help but giggle when she realised. "Karkat? Seriously?"  
"Well, yeah. Remember, I was a colossal ass then. So I was like: 'What kind of reward?' and she laughed, and said it wasn't what I was thinking. I didn't know back then that she was a telepath and just read my thoughts of...getting to know her. I was really damn embarrassed, and I apologised a lot, but she said she's so used to it she finds it a compliment, and she said she liked the look of me too. Now the last time you tried to get a matesprit, what's the first question they ask you?"  
"She asked me if I was up for it." Kanaya said, still looking at the note.  
"Oh, right. Shit. But yeah, it's usually: 'Blood color?' but she never asked. She either knew already, or she didn't care. I'm thinking both. So then I was still apologising and I was really embarrassed, and she got out of her carriage thing and kissed me, right on the lips. I think to shut me up, but it lasted longer than a shut-up kiss. So then I was speechless, and she laughed again, and said exactly what I was thinking. Along the lines of: 'Holy shit this is awesome.' and...so yeah."  
  
Karkat tapped Kanaya on the shoulder. "If this shit ever works out, I'll make sure to find her."  
"Really? You mean that?"  
"Of course, I wouldn't fuck you about like that."  
"...Thanks, Karkat. That really does mean a lot to me."  
"It's alright. Now, I had a bit of trouble actually getting this, because the shopkeeper recognised me. I convinced her rather unkindly, involving shooting her in her stupid blue face, but fuck it, don't get in the way of Vantas and his groceries."  
"What is it?" Kanaya said. She still didn't like how casual Karkat seemed to regard murder.  
"It's food. Actual food. Not lusus shit in bags."  
"...Good job, Karkat."


	6. Chapter 6

The mercenary stood in front of the crowded bar. He twirled his handcannon around his middle finger and holstered it. He whistled while he waited for a contact. He had heard all about the new outlaw, and her two week long string of crimes all along AS-612. Official news sources were saying she was working alongside Karkat Vantas, Outlaw One. If that was true, then he was expecting a big payment from his contact.  
  
Eventually, a young woman appeared from a alley, but stayed obscured by shadows.   
  
"Hello." said the woman.  
"Who do you want assassinated?" the hunter asked.  
"No, no. It's not an assassination. More like...A retrieval, of sorts."  
The bounty hunter looked up from under his hat, intrigued. "What?"  
"I need you to take someone alive." the woman adjusted something on her face. "I don't want even a scratch on her. I'll pay you 50,000 caegars. That's twice the most recent reward."  
"I...think I can do that...And you're giving a reasonable price. Yeah, I'll do it."  
"Good. Here she is." the woman came out of the shadow, but the hunter still didn't see her well, except the eyepatch over her left eye. She handed him a picture, with a jade green lip print underneath.  
"...This is a nude picture." the hunter said. He checked over every detail slowly. "So what's her name?"  
"Kanaya. Kanaya Maryam."  
"The outlaw? Outlaw Forty? She gave you a picture?"  
"Sweeps ago."  
"Oh. She was your matesprit, I assume? I think I know why you want me to track her down now..."  
"Yeah..." the woman looked down. "Please don't hurt her."  
"I'll do my best not to. Now where is she?"  
The woman handed the hunter a map. "Here. This area here. I circled her hive in blue ink. Check there first."  
"Okay. Can I keep the picture?"  
"After this, I want it back. It's...dear to me."  
"Okay. I'll look after it. What if I'm captured?"  
"Say I sent you. She'll understand." The woman handed the hunter a heart-shaped pendant. "This should convince her."  
"Well, who are you?"  
The woman came from the shadows. She was wearing rounded glasses, a eyepatch, a grey trenchcoat, a black shirt with a cerulean blue symbol and a pair of cargo trousers. She was missing her left arm, and the coat was tied off where it was severed. Her holster contained a semi-automatic pistol - a rarity for civilians.  
"Vriska. My name is Vriska Serket. I think you knew my mother from the old news stories, and so will know what will happen if you fuck me over. It won't be pleasant, merc."  
The hunter placed the map, picture and pendant in his breast pocket of his armor. "Of course. Ms. Serket. I'll do this to the best of my ability."  
"Thank you."

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for about three months while I was awaiting my invitation for this site. I would like feedback, because I want to improve this.
> 
> I was watching an old Western film, and I then played Half Life 2. And got to thinking...


End file.
